Author: Mike Cluett

10 years ago today

Mike Cluett

Heres a tale of two different kinds of days.

Ten years ago today Pat and I were married in Brampton.  It was around this time exactly that we were sitting in Gage Park getting our pictures taken as our wedding party munched on some fast food they got at a drive through on the way back from the church.

The sun was beginning to hide and the cool breeze started to flow as our photographer chirped at us “ok stay there…lets try this.”  Every pose it seemed that he was attempting us to get in didnt seem right and in between shots we held each other and smiled.  “THATS IT” hed say as we seemed much more natural when NOT posing and the photos were beautiful.  It was very calm and relaxing at that point, but several hours earlier, Pat’s day wasn’t going as smoothly.

The night before the wedding I stayed over at my good friend Mike Heenan’s house after being out the night before having a few drinks to calm the nerves and prepare for the next day.  We woke up in the morning and calmly headed downstairs to flick on the Ryder Cup golf tournament.  The smell of eggs and toast filled the air as we sat back with our feet up, watched a few holes of golf and waited for the rest of our wedding party to arrive.  Stress level zero.

Over at our house on Edenridge the totally opposite was happening.  My mother, aunt Betty (who’s birthday is the same day as our anniversary…Happy Birthday Aunt Betty!!) sister in law Deb and Pat’s half of the wedding party were running around getting their hair and make up done and doing what they can to keep everything under control.  Pat, as she always does, did her best to make sure everyone was taken care of so she made some sandwiches for everyone and kept them fed nicely as THEY were trying to do for her.

There were probably 20 or so people running around in different rooms, getting the tuxes on, making last minute changes to dresses and hair and on their make up.  Our niece Ashley and nephew Richard were in the wedding party as well, much younger than they are today and were a going concern to keep an eye on.

Just an FYI the Europeans were in the lead at the Ryder Cup as Mike turned to me and said “More coffee?”  Sure I replied as we refilled and stretched out on the chairs, in what I like to call a “golf haze”.

Needless to say, I still feel kind of guilty that my day wasnt as stressful as hers but we had 20 less people running around and only 3 people to dress.

The limo was there to pick up Pat and the wedding party as the last pictures were taken with her family in a now almost empty living room…all the furniture pushed up to the side to fit everyone, and they headed off to the church.

Mike, Satinder and my brother Rick were waiting anxiously at the church listening for the signal that the limo had arrived.  The minister was with us, trying to see if there was anything he could do to lessen the stress level, but there really wasnt any to relieve.  They were a little late and just as the minister said to us “ok, 3 more minutes and we head to the pub for a pint” the doorbell rang, signaling the arrival of the long white stretch limo containing the future Mrs Cluett.

We had a small contingent of close friends and family members at the church in Brampton as we all lined up front waiting for the music to begin.  A few of my friends looked over at me chuckling “you can run now if you like!” and the usual barbs you give to a nervous groom on his wedding day.  Ah, too late “here comes the bride!”  (Im kidding, I never would have thought of running, besides my knees were knocking too much to be able to run if I wanted.)

Pat took my breath away as she made her journey down the aisle of the church and the knocking of the knees stopped.  My brother even had to make sure I didnt fall over as I tried to catch my breath.

The service was beautiful and even though we missed the opportunity to say our own personal vows and it seemed like a blur until the minister said “you may now kiss the bride”.  Whoo hoo.

Our good friend Neil Sammut sang “When a Man Cries” a song he recorded in Nashville to a captive audience as we went to the back room to sign and make it all legal.  In between the pictures being taken Pat and I snuck around the corner to catch a glimpse of Neil singing as we wanted to be out there listening and watching him.

After talking with a few people today and getting the usual questions of “do you remember that day” my answer is like it was yesterday.

That was ten years ago.  Happy Anniversary Pat.  I love you even more now than I did then.

More people agree about aggressive drivers

Mike Cluett

As I pointed out in a previous post, and commented on by another Milton blogger Zeeshan Hamid, there was a letter to the Champion outlining several instances of aggressive drivers in the Town of Milton.  It seems to be an ongoing problem with no real direction on what changes can be made.

Here’s Jean Paul’s letter this week.  It echos Cristina’s letter from last week.

What can be done?  There seems to be two different problems here.  One of them is aggressive driving and speeding in residential areas and the second being on the main roads like Derry and James Snow Parkway among other major intersections.

traffic calmingI’ve talked about traffic calming zones with speed bumps for residential streets to force drivers to slow down in areas around schools and where kids walk and play.  On the Hawthorne Villager Forum, people have talked about other ideas that possibly include a form of photo radar.

Raising awareness doesnt seem to work well.  You can have blitzes by police on a regular basis, but it seems that people go back to their old habits of driving 10km/hr over the speed limit because they can get away from it.

Why not make the speed limit 40km/hr in every residential area…no execptions.  If youre driving around homes, where there could be children crossing the street or bikes on the road the limit is 40km/hr.  This way if police do catch speeders, the fines will be increased and maybe someone will think twice about going over the speed limit.

There have been comparisons to speeding on the highways and the main streets and residential streets, and to me there is a huge difference.  Highways have an “allowance” of being over the speed limit.  Thats what fast lanes are for I’m told.

The fact of the matter is there are no fast lanes on Derry Road, Clark Blvd, Ferguson, Louis St Laurent, Trudeau or any other residentail street.  That arguement is mute.

It seems to be an ongoing issue.  Any ideas out there?  Let’s discuss.

mcclogo
 
Sep 04, 2009
DEAR EDITOR:

In regard to Cristina Drapeau’s recent letter about aggressive drivers in Milton, I couldn’t agree with her more.

I have lived in Milton for about seven years now and shortly after moving in I started to notice the exact same problems at the same intersections — Derry Road at Trafalgar Road and Derry at James Snow Parkway.

Other drivers have always used the merging lane as a quick pass lane and feel they have the right of way to merge aggressively.

I’ve witnessed a large amount of road rage and aggressive driving. Many of these drivers I see offend repeatedly on a daily basis. At least a few give a wave when you let them in.

Although I understand that the police can’t be everywhere all the time, I feel that everyone should know there’s something citizens can do about this problem. It’s called Community Road Watch.

It’s a community program where if you witness another driver demonstrating unsafe driving behaviour you can report that driver and incident.

The police will send the driver a letter explaining their unsafe behaviour and ask for their voluntary compliance.

If the driver receives multiple letters, then the police may contact the driver and potentially lay charges if they feel it necessary.

It’s quite simple to do. Just remember or jot down the information of the incident, including licence, vehicle, time, driver description, time, and location. You then report it by giving the report to your local police station.

There’s even an on-line system for reporting at www.haltonroadwatch.ca to make it even easier.

However, I do feel it’s important that one takes their time and considers what they’re reporting and if it’s correct or if we are letting our frustration get the better of us.

JOHN-PAUL DELSENY, MILTON

2009 Milton Steam Era Celebration this Labour Day Weekend

Mike Cluett

The sounds of steam whistles will pierce the air in Milton this coming long weekend with the return of the Steam Era at the Milton Fairgrounds.  Come take a tour through history and see how things were done 100 years ago.

From the Steam Era website:

For the older generation it’s a chance to stroll down memory lane. For the young it’s a learning experience of a way of life far removed from todays. 

Bring your kids or grandchildren and participate in activities. Let the kids try the pedal tractors at the second stage or try sawing a log. Stay and enjoy the home cooked food, see the evening grandstand Country & Western Shows and enjoy the corn roast. You’ll find amazing sights and sounds at Steam- Era where “where your heritage comes alive”.

Everything starts on September 4th.  Check out the list of events as well.  DO NOT forget the corn roast on Friday night.  It doesn’t have anything about prices this year but last year Friday’s admission was $6.00 per person, kids under 12 were free and the rest of the weekend it was $7.00 per person, again kids under 12 free.  There are weekend passes available at $15 each.  Its well worth the money for the amount of fun you will have at the fairgrounds.  Who says theres nothing to do in Milton. 🙂

FRIDAY, Sept 4th 2009

8:00am – Grounds open
activities and demonstrations throughout the day

6:00pm – CORN ROAST following parade

7PM MINI TRACTOR PULLS at the Grandstands

Food is available from food court

At dusk:  Steam Engine NIGHT OF FIRE SPARK SHOW (weather permitting)

SATURDAY,Sept 5th 2009

8:00am – Grounds open

9:00am-5:30pm – Buildings open

9:00am – Tractor pulls begin (until 11:50am)

10:00am -4:00pm – Operating demonstrations (Sawmill, threshing, shingle mill)

1:00pm-5:00pm – Entertainment on the second stage – Games and contests for kids

12:00noon – Steam whistle blow

12-1.00pm Marions Country Band at Grandstands

12:15pm – Downtown Parade (starts at Main Street & Commercial St) & returns to the grounds.

1-2 pm Log Sawing at Grandstands

1:00pm – Junior Talent Contest at Second Stage

2.00-3.00pm Junior Members activities at Grandstands

3:15- 3.30pm – Threshing competition

3:30-4.30pm – Whipple tree Tractor pulls

4:30pm – Grand Opening Ceremonies followed by Parade of Equipment

Corn Roast following parade.  Dinner available from food court

5.30 – 6:30 – Marions Country Band

7:30pm – 32th Annual Country Western Talent Contest

CORN ROAST ongoing

At dusk:  Steam Engine NIGHT OF FIRE SPARK SHOW (weather permitting)

SUNDAY, Sept 6th 2009

8:00am – Grounds open – Buildings open at 11:00am till 5:30pm

10:00am- Church Service at the Second Stage

10:30am – Tractor games at grande stand

11:30am – Junior member Lawn Tractor games

12:15pm – Log sawing

1-2:00pm – Steam Engine Skills Competitions

3:00-3.15pm – Threshing competition

4:00pm – Grande Parade of all equipment followed by Corn Roast

Dinner available from food court

7.00 pm – Country Western Music by “DIGGER” and The CampfireCountry Band

At dusk:  Steam Engine NIGHT OF FIRE SPARK SHOW (weather permitting)

MONDAY, Sept 7th 2009

8:00am – Grounds open

8:00am – Tractor pull weigh in (Starting at 9am to 11:50am)

9:00am – all buildings open (until 5:30pm)

10:00am – Demonstrations begin throughout the grounds (Sawmill, shingle mill, baker fan)

12:00noon – Steam Whistle Blow

– Entertainment on second stage (kids games, music, dancing)
1:00-2.00pm – Steam Engine Skills Competition

2:00pm – Log Sawing

3:00-3.15pm – Threshing competition

3:45pm – Grand Parade of all Equipment

Aggressive Storms and aggressive driving

Mike Cluett

All I can say is WOW!  Last Thursday is a day I’ll be remembering for sometime.  For a number of reasons, and moving from my home on Yates Drive is the least of them.

The Champion has a couple of articles on what happened and the confirmation that it indeed was a tornado that hit Milton last Thursday evening.  Jennifer Smith has a few pictures on her website from that day as she was even closer to the line of the storm that day.

Needless to say many Miltonians will have their “where were you when the storm hit” stories.  Here’s mine.

As I mentioned before Pat, Anthony, Miranda and I have moved from our home of the last 6 years on Yates Drive to our new home on Arthur’s way…exactly 2.7 kms away.  Thursday was our closing date and the movers were doing their thing over the course of the day getting our furniture and memories packed up on the truck.  I have to admit, it was hard leaving.

There were some hiccups with the closing, as most closings go, and we were delayed a bit in getting the second half of the delivery completed.  Thats when things got very eerily quiet.  The air went very still for about 3 minutes and I had this funny feeling something was about to happen.  Standing in my garage, I looked out towards the road and I heard a very loud rumbling sound, almost like a train.  Before I knew it the sky went very dark…almost black and then sheets of rain suddenly appeared.  There were no drops of rain to announce its arrival but it was like someone turned on a very large faucet and it came down.

Winds were blowing madly as the very young trees on our street bent over from the force of the wind and the rain.  The movers were making mad dashes to get off the moving truck and leaving all the metal objects where they were for shelter.

The movers then had to call off the move because of the weather and the potential for more lightening.  Thankfully the new owners of our house were moving in the next day and let us keep our belongings there until the morning.

I am very grateful that no one was injured in Milton but the pain of the damage will live on in many peoples minds.  As my parents always told me, you can replace belongings but you cant replace a person.

***

RoadRage

Another thing caught my attention in the Champion was a letter to the editor from Christina Drapeau who detailed her experiences while driving in and out of Milton along Derry Road.  The reason why it caught my attention was I was witness to some very questionable driving skills from an individual going south on James Snow Parkway to Waldie.

As I was coming home in the right lane, a blue Pontiac Sunfire blew past me at a higher rate of speed.  I was doing 70km/hr and they must have been going almost 90km/hr.  This car was driving in the left lane and as we got around the bend towards the light at Waldie the car cut in front on another car in front of me, slammed on the brakes and made a very dangerous right hand turn into the subdivision at Waldie.  Thankfully there was no collision, but it does illustrate that there are some people out there who are driving to aggressively. 

A little shaken up, I continued down to Derry Road to continue towards Louis St Laurant.  I am now in the left lane for those of you who are keeping track…as the right lane ends shortly after Derry.  There was a large pickup truck in that lane waiting for the light to turn green.  The lane we are in is adjacent to the left turn lane to go east on Derry and after the light turns green the truck in front of me, instead of going straight makes a bee line left turn and almost cuts off 2 cars in the process.

So I understand what Christina is talking about when she voices her concerns on continued aggressive driving in Milton.

Do we really have to be in that much of a hurry?  Think twice.

A familiar story about Milton Taxes

Mike Cluett

Who says going on vacation reduces stress?  My family just came back from a wonderful trip to Newfoundland.  The weather was amazing with the sun shining down on us more often than the clouds with a cool breeze coming in off the Atlantic Ocean.  It was Anthony’s fourth trip out to the island and Miranda’s first.  Like a trooper, she handled the flight to and from perfectly and both Pat and I were amazed.  The vacation was well overdue and included an encounter with a Minke whale…up close while fishing.  It’s something that Anthony and I won’t be forgetting any time soon.

I’ve posted a few pictures of our trip on Facebook so click on, and request an add if you’re not already a friend.

While on vacation, I did take some time to go online to the Milton Canadian Champion and read up what was going on in our beloved town.  Unfortunately some stories didn’t surprise me.  And it has to do with taxes.

As I’ve discussed many times on this blog, council had decided to go the route of spending and taxing like no other municipality in the last few years.  Sure we are under the pressures of growth and we need funds to pay for things like infrastructure to keep us moving.  Ever since this new council has been elected, we as taxpayers have been subjected to year after year of tax increases.

2010 and 2011 are looking to be the same.

In this article published in the Champion July 31st, they discuss the proposed tax increase for Milton taxpayers in the range of 7.5% to 9.5%.  This means another increase of roughly $40 per household over $300,000.  It’s the same old story played out again and again and again with the same result.  Silence.

The argument you end up getting from council is that “its only $30 or $40”   My response is that if it’s only $30 or $40, then work at finding the savings somewhere.

The last council was elected in 2006 and from that point on taxes have gone up at an alarming rate.  2007 budget increased by 3.0%…2008 budget increase was 2.5%…2009 budget increase was 4.5%.  And now the town staff is recommending a 7.5% increase?

Many of you know that council has received 3 pay increases since taking office in 2007.  Salary for the local council position was approximately $21.000 in 2006 and they are now $28,000.  Benefits have increased and the costs of paying our local officials have increased as well.

As outlined in the article, the main reason for the increase is…salaries and benefits.

“Part of the forecasted increase for the next two years is due to the estimated $1.5 million in extra salary and benefits for existing employees, along with an estimated half million dollars for new employees, according to the 2009 budget documents.

The Town recently bargained three three-year agreements with unionized staff. The 29 unionized staff of the Town’s fire department will receive annual 3 per cent pay hikes this year and the next two years.”

The main reason for the increase is salaries and benefits.  There’s another city out there that is having severe financial issues due to problems with salaries and benefits…the City of Toronto.

I’m not sounding the alarm bells yet with Milton, don’t get me wrong.  We are not at that stage yet…far from it.  But if we don’t get a handle on the town purse soon, there will be issues.

Town Council has spent a lot of money in the last few years which includes a wasted investment of over $3 million dollars in Milton Transit.  Just imagine if they had been smarter and not spent that money.  If $ 1.5 million in increased salaries and benefits represents a majority of this tax increase, what could have $3 million dollars done?  We wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Council’s priorities are off.  They are not looking at the future impact of their decisions and if this lack of focus continues, we are going to be having more conversations like this in the future. 

Tax increases can be justified and most people grin and bear it.  Most people don’t have a problem with it if that increase makes sense.  The last 4 years of increases can’t be justified.  They simply haven’t been smart with their spending and don’t show any signs of improvement.

It’s just another $30 or $40.  Justify it then.

Way to go Milton

Mike Cluett

35,000 people in Milton had their say.  They want the governments at all levels to make the expansion of Milton’s Hospital a priority…and NOW!  The only question that remains is will David Caplan, Minister of Health and George Smitherman, Minister of Infrastructure listen???  Only time will tell.

Overwhelming support

Nearly 35,000 residents sign petition postcards in group’s ongoing push for hospital expansion

Tim Foran, Canadian Champion Staff
Published on Jul 29, 2009

A volunteer group dedicated to securing provincial approval and funding for an expanded Milton District Hospital says it has collected signatures from close to 35,000 people on postcards addressed to Ontario’s Minister of Health.

“The incredible enthusiasm in this community is amazing,” said Pete Pomeroy, co-chair of the Friends of Milton Hospital, which started its postcard signing blitz about two months ago assisted by $25,000 in funding from the Town of Milton.

The group is now hoping to deliver the postcards personally to the Minister of Health, David Caplan, and it also wants to meet with the Minister of Infrastructure, George Smitherman. The two ministries are expected to make final decisions on which of 58 proposed hospital capital projects will get put onto an updated 10-year infrastructure plan, expected to be released this fall.

“We need a hospital (expansion), we need a place to go that ourselves and our family feel we’re going to get the care that we need, they (the hospital) have the specialties that we need, that we can have faith in our hospital,” said Cari Kovachik-MacNeil, co-chair along with Pomeroy.

The duo met last Wednesday to present their case to Dr. Sacha Bhatia, healthy policy advisor to Ontario Premier Dalton McGunity.

Bhatia listened to the group’s concerns but advised them they should be working with officials from the ministries of health and infrastructure and the Mississauga-Halton Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), said Karman Wong, a spokesperson from the Premier’s Office. LHINs are responsible for planning, funding and integrating health care services locally.

“At the end of the day, decisions on which hospitals should get funding shouldn’t be political,” said Wong. “They should be based on where the need is.”

The criteria for assessing that need is what concerns Pomeroy and Kovachik-MacNeil. They said at least one criterion the Province will be using is wait time statistics for hospital emergency rooms (ER).

In this respect, statistics show Milton District Hospital fares better than most hospitals. For the first quarter of this year, the average wait time for a serious condition at the hospital ER was just under five hours, a couple hours better than the provincial average and about half the time spent by patients at hospitals in Burlington and Mississauga.

“Having said that, health care is more than emergency (service),” argued Kovachik-MacNeil. She said patients from Milton should not be forced to go to other hospitals for specialized services.

Pomeroy added many people believe HHS’s new Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, expected to begin construction over the next couple years, will be a regional hospital built to accommodate the needs of Miltonians.

“But it isn’t true, that isn’t the case,” said Pomeroy.

While the Friends of Milton Hospital’s postcard campaign has wrapped up, a similar petition for a Milton hospital expansion is still being circulated.

Led by former director of development with the Milton District Hospital Foundation, Donna McLaughlin, the Milton Hospital Action Committee said in April it wanted to collect 50,000 signatures on a petition to be presented to the provincial legislature by Halton MPP Ted Chudleigh on June 6.

“It (the petition) was about 8,000 (signatures) at the end of June and we decided to hold it for the summer,” said Chudleigh. “They’re still collecting signatures and I’m going to present it in the House in September.”

Tim Foran can be reached at tforan@miltoncanadianchampion.com